B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the night they stopped Mullings from sliding. Grade: B+.
by PoppaShart ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 7 steals
· 0 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Kalel Mullings, the 241st pick, roughly 133 picks past where he belonged.
They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own.
Job largely done: safety settled and 3 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 4 they get a potential shutdown corner at fair value. More want than need.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Tate Ratledge in the 39th pick. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Omarion Hampton at the Round 3 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It fills a real need, too.
Aireontae Ersery in the 77th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Kevin Winston Jr. in slot 143, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Lander Barton at No. 217 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A minor itch, scratched.
Lathan Ransom at pick No. 220 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
You do not let a running back like Kalel Mullings reach pick 241 and blink. They did not. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.